City may have dedicated cycle lanes

The City may soon get dedicated ‘cycle tracks’ if the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) implements the State Transport Department’s proposal.

Announcing this at the ‘Breathe Easy’ campaign launched by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on Wednesday the Principal Secretary to the Transport Department M K Shankarlinge Gowda said a proposal to the effect has been forwarded to BBMP.

“There are close to 40 lakh vehicles plying on City’s roads today, while in 1996 it was a mere six lakh vehicles. Of the manifold increase in vehicles, 24 lakh are two-wheelers and 80,000 are autos. Everyday there is an estimated addition of 1,350 vehicles. Thus, there is a dire need to have dedicated cycle lanes to reduce burgeoning increase in vehicles,” said Shankarlinge Gowda.

A visible change can be brought about if a large number of motorists switch over to cycles, as a mode of transport, he added. Also speaking, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Chairman A S Sadashiva said air pollution monitoring equipment have been installed at 15 places in the City. “We have also suggested to the Transport Department not to issue fitness certificates (FC) to commercial vehicles that are 15 years and above. As this will reduce emission,” he said.‘Breathe Easy’ bus

A Volvo (Airavata) bus on the Bangalore-Mysore route carrying the message ‘One bus means 40 less cars on roads’ was flagged off on the occasion. KSRTC Managing Director Gaurav Gupta said the bus with special graphics aims to promote use of public transport leading to reduced air pollution and less vehicles.